This article introduces a pedagogical intervention that includes a set of creative activities designed to improve the oral and written production of students in the English classroom, especially those who have shown a lack of interest or attention. It was observed that participants initially seemed careless about studying the language. Eventually…

Describes the class activities that lead to the making of a play and contains the script for a play entitled "The last of the Scotts," written and acted by students with the teacher serving as the producer. (RB)

How to make and use shadow puppets in class activities. (RL)

Intended for classroom teachers, parents, theater people, and the general public, this book is an account of teaching a fifth grade class to write, direct, and perform their own plays as staged readings, videotapes, radio plays, and full stage productions. It can be read as a story or it can be used as a step-by-step guide for teachers. Each…

Offers suggestions for writing and performing original plays with secondary students. Argues that classroom plays increase student motivation, improve reading skills, and build character. (SR)

Describes a classroom collaborative activity in which students are asked to write one-act plays based on three characters, two of whom know each other, and a third who affects the other two. Presents details of carrying out the assignment, and evaluates student response. (HB)

With the current education climate so focused on accountability, teachers need to ensure that their teaching practices are supported by today's content-specific standards. To meet this need, "A Comprehensive Guide to Readers Theatre" shows not only how to implement Readers Theatre in the classroom but also how to use it to meet current literacy…

Describes how a "radio" presentation of a basal play or favorite story fosters oral reading in reluctant readers. (MM)

Each year, fifth graders at Kamehameha Elementary School produce a play about American history. Students do research, write scripts and songs, design costumes and the stage sets, act, and promote the event. The article explains how the students accomplished this over several months and notes how the activity tied into their schoolwork. (SM)

After presenting a series of assumptions about the teaching of playwriting (for example, that students can be taught the craft, if not the art, of playwriting; students must be kept to a strict deadline if they are to develop into disciplined writers; and playwriting should never be discussed outside the context of production possibilities), this…

Describes a three-week summer theater program for middle and high school students. Discusses the reconstructing of Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" by students in the class from prior viewings of movie versions of the play and from students' past experiences with the play. Includes the play script as rewritten by the students. (CR)

Having students adapt a play from a strongly dramatic short story through the composing process is a natural and powerful way to integrate the language arts. Using dramatic activities in the classroom naturally leads to two kinds of language activities: receptive (listening and observing), and active (discussing, reading, writing, and presenting).…

Gives an overview of how one English teacher uses students' inherent understanding of film by asking them to write movie scripts. Advocates the use of screenwriting in the classroom. Details numerous reasons for such methods, and describes eight specific suggested class activities employing script writing. (HB)

Noting that knowledge of grammar rules does not ensure correct usage in one's own writing, describes an approach used in a summer workshop to promote awareness of appropriate idiom where 35 highly motivated black students produced 'Snow White' using their own script, half in standard dialect and half in black dialect. (JG)

Details four developmentally appropriate dramatic play experiences for integration into the classroom curriculum to extend dramatic play into a classroom play experience. Provides guidance in turning dramatic play into a project, launching the play process, readying the performance, problem solving, playing the play, and enjoying the outcome.…